Thursday, April 08, 2010

I should eat here more often. I keep forgetting how good the food is here.

David Lynch's surreal television series "Twin Peaks" turned 20 today. Still one of my favorite shows ever.

The show holds up today pretty well. It doesn't seem as strange as it did back then, of course. It was SERIOUSLY weird in its original airing with its lazy jazzy soundtrack, quirky characters, and odd fascination with doughnuts, coffee, and cherry pie. There was nothing on TV that even approached it. A mid-season replacement, it caught on quickly in its short first season. Expectations were high on the second season, but the show didn't deliver. Lynch had never intended to reveal Laura's killer, but it was basically demanded of him. The story then shifted on a nemesis for Coop by the name of Windom Earle. That was just a little TOO weird. And the quirkiness of the characters were wearing off. Still, every few years I'll pop out the DVD set and watch most, if not all, of it again.

The show's exteriors were shot at various locations in North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington. The RR diner was really known then as the Mar-T-Cafe, today as Twede's Cafe. The Great Northern is really the Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie. It sits next to Snoqualmie Falls...the very falls found in the show's intro. There's all sorts of instantly recognizable locations in the area.

I believe they still hold annual Twin Peaks festivals. I attended the first, which was done in conjunction with the release of the Twin Peaks prequel film "Fire Walk With Me". I got my picture taken with Catheryn Colson, who played the Log Lady, right out in front of the Mar-T-Cafe. Yes, she was holding the log.

I'd love to see the show remastered in HD and released on Blu-ray. Even in its 4:3 screen format...though I bet they could re-frame everything in 16:9 just fine.